Rokotov Levitsky Borovikovsky Representatives of what direction. Portrait in Russian Art. Portrait in the visual arts. The process of becoming a personality

Portrait in Russian art

It is believed that the portrait is the most indisputable achievement of our national school; it was thanks to him that Russian painting reached the European level. A short excursion into the history of Russian portraiture.

The earliest depictions of specific persons in Russian culture include a miniature representing Prince Svyatoslav Yaroslavich with his family in an Old Russian manuscript book (1073), as well as a fresco depicting the family of Prince Yaroslav the Wise (Kiev Sophia Cathedral).

The frescoes depict ghostly female figures walking one after another, most likely in a temple. The spirituality of the figures, the leisurely pace of their steps testify to a certain emotional state that a person who comes to church for prayer can experience. The images of girls are more mysterious, fantastic, fabulous than reality.

What features does a musical fresco have? Listen to the constantly repeating accompaniment - the monotonous sound of the overflow of the harp. Against this background, in the upper register, cautiously, mysteriously sound
violin trills. The downward movement of sustained sounds is constantly repeated in this piece, which creates a feeling of immobility, a ghostly sound, and adds a flavor of mystery to it.

Portrait tendencies can be traced in the images of donors with models of buildings in their hands - Prince Yaroslav (the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord is located near Veliky Novgorod around 1246).

In the individual characteristics of the prince's facial features, the interpretation of clothing, one can see the artist's desire to convey individual similarities.

One of the earliest portraits of the 15th century is the embroidered veil of Sergei Radonezhsky (1429): the author of the portrait probably knew the deceased.

The icon-painting images of the Moscow metropolitans are distinguished by their individual characteristics. In the 1460s and 70s, the Novgorod boyar Antipa Kuzmin commissioned an icon (Praying Novgorodians), in the lower part of which the customer with the family was depicted - this is not yet a boyar family portrait, but already a bold attempt to depict a group of socialites on the icon.

XVI century. The rudiments of a secular portrait date back to the reign of Ivan III and Vasily III, when images of the grand dukes were sent to Western Europe... Ivan the Terrible strove to glorify and perpetuate his deeds on icons and frescoes; his plans were supported by Metropolitan Macarius, around whom the most educated people and painters of his time were concentrated. The artists were asked to reflect the pathos of historical events in art. A corresponding royal workshop was created, where these new artistic tasks were embodied. Grozny's workshop gradually expanded and in the 17th century formed the basis of the school of tsarist isographers of the Armory Chamber.

In the 2nd floor. XVI century, on the initiative of Ivan the Terrible, annalistic vaults with miniatures were created, where the tsar himself was repeatedly depicted (as an ideolized monarch). The novelty consisted in the fact that they were already a lifetime image of the tsar - glorifying his exploits, consolidating in the minds of the ideas of the strength and power of power. It was in the 16th century that the fact of a lifetime portrait of the tsar in miniatures, icons and frescoes was first encountered.

But the first Russian portraits of specific personalities came down only from the beginning of the 17th century. It was only during this period that a decisive step was taken on the difficult path of Russian painting from an icon-painting "face" to an individual face.

It was from this period in Russia that an interest in individuality, in personalities arises, the time of the Middle Ages ends and the opening of the individual principle takes place. In addition to literature, a change in concept led to the development of the portrait genre in the 1660s. The artists of the armory became the exponents of new advanced aesthetic views on art and innovators in the search for a realistic portrait image. One of them is Simon Ushakov.

Their work is characterized by fundamental shifts towards realism. Ushakov was engaged in experiments in the field of imaging human face, which led to the major development of art. He created new icon-painting types with anatomically correct, volumetric simulated chiaroscuro faces, real rendering of the shape of the eyes and the shine of the pupils. This was especially facilitated by his favorite theme "Savior Not Made by Hands" with a large image of a human face. He painted many icons on this subject, conveying in each a new shade of a person's inner mood.

However, connected by the feudal-church worldview, Ushakov and Vladimirov, still solve the problem of the portrait image in a limited way - by rebuilding itself iconographic techniques in which conventional elements were combined with the search for anatomically correct features of a real human face and a truthful rendering of the image.

In the 17th century, a parsuna arose in Russia - a portrait that initially did not differ from icons in style, techniques and materials of painting. They were created as tombstones, memorial images, so their connection with religious thought is obvious.

Thus, by the end of the 17th century, the portrait genre emerged in Russian portraiture, stood out from icon painting, and was formed by the efforts of domestic masters and foreign artists, embarking on the path of formation.

A breakthrough in the portrait genre in Russia, as in many other industries, happened in the time of Peter the Great. Since the time of Peter the Great, the development of the portrait proceeds along three main lines:

1.Archaizing art associated with provincial, so-called. "Artistic primitive". One can feel the style of the turn of the 17th-18th centuries, the influence of the Parsuna national school.

A French painter who moved to Russia under Peter the Great in 1717 and became a court painter, one of the most significant representatives of Russia.

2.Russica is presented by foreign artists who worked in Russia throughout the entire 18th century. This line is not homogeneous in terms of ethnic composition and quality level. It is closer to the mainstream of the Russian portrait, its task is to exhibit the local model in a common European way. Thanks to Rossica, Russian art is in contact with the art of neighboring countries - at the level of typology, style and the formation of general criteria for artistic quality.

3.The native school proper (Ivan Nikitin, Andrey Matveev, Ivan Vishnyakov, Alexey Antropov - students of Louis Caravac, Ivan Argunov). Their works are notable for their skill and accuracy in conveying appearance, although they have not reached complete perfection. (From the next generation, Rokotov belonged to her, Levitsky, Borovikovsky). This trunk line is characterized by continuity. At the same time, she possessed internal unity - at first she was aimed at mastering the basic artistic principles of the New Time, then, having caught up with them, she began to develop in accordance with the general European style trends (baroque, rococo, classicism, sentimentalism, pre-romanticism).

XVIII century in Russia it is called the century of the portrait. The best Russian artists painted the portrait genre: F. Rokotov, D. Levitsky; 19th century - O. Kiprensky, K. Bryullov, I. Repin;

Silver Age - M. Vrubel and others.

In the middle of the eighteenth century. the portrait becomes a part of everyday life associated with architecture, furniture, utensils, the very inhabitants of the dwelling, their costumes and habits.

Thanks to the "portrait harmonies" of the Russian artist Fyodor Stepanovich Rokotov(1735-1808) - a representative of the Rococo style - a special emotional vocabulary was formed to express the viewer's impressions: "half-blinking, half-burning of colors", "fragility, airiness", "mysteriousness and mystery", "vibration of light and color", "poetic fragility of feelings" , "Secrecy of mental manifestations", etc. In addition to technical pictorial innovations, the artist opens up new possibilities for intimate intimate portraiture in expressing the mental world of a person as the main criterion of his dignity. It is often believed that Rokotov endowed the models with his own spirituality.

A special place in the artist's work is occupied by the portrait of A. Struyskaya (1772). He is a vivid example of the poeticization of an image by means of painting. The airy, transparent manner of writing creates a feeling of lightness of fabrics and bottomlessness of the background. With the help of light, Rokotov masterfully highlights the face and at the same time unites the entire composition of the portrait into a single whole. It is no coincidence that this portrait is often called the "Russian Mona Lisa".

In the portrait of A.P. Struyskaya, a young woman is captured against a neutral dark background and, like a charming vision, emerges from the "darkness of the past." Soft shimmering light accentuates her thin, soulful face with slightly narrowed eyes. She looks from somewhere far away: seriously, a little sad, with a subtle slight regret. Many years later, her beautiful eyes will be sung by the poet N.A. Zabolotsky (1903-1958):

Love painting, poets!

Only she, the only one, is given

Souls of changeable omens

Transfer to canvas.

Do you remember how from the darkness of the past,

Barely wrapped in satin

From the portrait of Rokotov again

Did Struyskaya look at us?

Her eyes are like two mists

Half smile, half cry,

Her eyes are like two deceptions

Shrouded in the mist of failure.

A combination of two riddles,

Half-delight, half-frightened,

A fit of mad tenderness

Anticipation of mortal torment.

When darkness falls

And a thunderstorm is coming

From the bottom of my soul shimmer

Her beautiful eyes.

N. Zabolotsky

Struyskaya's facial features seem to be half-erased, vague, dissolving in the twilight. The contours of her figure are blurred, as if she suddenly emerged from the gloom and is ready to disappear in it again. In her noble posture, in the spread of the figure, in her gaze, there is a consciousness of remoteness, of involvement in mystery. Sliding shadows on the face, hair, shoulders and dress enhance the feeling of fragility and uncertainty of the image. A transparent smoky fabric, as if woven from air and light, fixed on the shoulder with a precious brooch, gracefully drapes the figure and gives the air of a young woman. Rokotov only slightly denotes the shades of her state of mind, I deliberately do not specify them. It leaves the viewer with the opportunity to unravel, to feel the deeply hidden secret of her nature.

The artist used the traditional technique of a representative portrait - surrounding the character with objects and attributes that help to reveal his image. However, Borovikovsky tried to show not the social status of Lopukhina, but the personal, intimate sides of her character. The main theme of the portrait was the harmonious fusion of man with nature, characteristic of aesthetics. late XVIII century, influenced by sentimentalism. The artist expresses this fusion through compositional, rhythmic and coloristic relationships. Lopukhina is depicted against the background of a landscape, in many ways conventional and decorative, but typical features of the Russian national landscape are already traced in it - the trunks of birches, ears of rye, cornflowers. The landscape echoes the appearance of Lopukhina - the bend of her figure echoes the bent ears, white birches are reflected in the dress, blue cornflowers echo with a silk belt, and a pale lilac shawl with drooping rosebuds. The artist managed to fill the image of his model with life authenticity, depth of feelings and extraordinary poetry. This portrait was admired not only by contemporaries, but also by viewers of the next generations.

The image of a young dreamy woman is presented with great love and sincerity. A languid, slightly sad look, a gentle smile, free ease of posture are perfectly conveyed by the artist. Her face is far from the ideal of classical beauty, but at the same time full of charm and spiritual charm. Smooth lines, soft rounded shapes, gentle tones create a special atmosphere of peace and harmony. An airy haze and an exquisite combination of the colors of a white dress and a light blue belt, a lilac scarf, a rose, ashy hair, and a green background of woody foliage reinforce the impression of a young girl's melancholic meditation. In this portrait, Maria Ivanovna Lopukhina is 18 years old, at 24 she passed away ...

More than a hundred years ago, a poet Yakov Petrovich Polonsky(1819-1898) saw a portrait of Maria Lopukhina at his friends' house, painted by a Russian artist Vladimir Lukich Borovikovsky(1787-1825). By that time, the portrait was also almost a hundred years old. The poet remained deep in thought for a long time

in front of a small canvas. He knew practically nothing about this woman. He only knew that for some reason her life was unhappy and that she died very young. The poet thought: “What a miracle - painting! Everyone would have forgotten this beautiful Lopukhina long ago, if not for the painter's brush ... "

And verses began to form in his head:

It has long passed - and those eyes are gone

And there is no smile that they silently expressed

Suffering is a shadow of love and thought is a shadow of sadness.

But Borovikovsky saved her beauty.

So, part of her soul did not fly away from us.

And there will be this look and this beauty of the body

To attract indifferent offspring to her,

Teaching him to love, suffer, forgive, dream ...

Maria Ivanovna Lopukhina(1779-1803), a representative of the Tolstoy count family, Leo Tolstoy is a descendant.

We remember Lopukhina because it was written by Borovikovsky. What if would we not know who is depicted in the portrait, would he like him less or touch less? Of course not! That is why thisthe portrait that the artist created beautiful image women sadand bright beauty, pure and gentle soul.

Creative tasks:

Pick up pieces of music by Russian composers (romances, chamber instrumental music) that can be used as a background to promote a deeper perception of portraiture.

Compare the artistic features of the portraits of Rokotov and Borovikovsky with the features of the famous portrait of Leonardo da Vinci "La Gioconda". What brings them together, what distinguishes them?

Find epithets, metaphors, comparisons in the text of the poem. How do they enhance the perception of A. Struyskaya's image?

Listen to the old Russian romance performed by Anna German "Burn, burn my star ..." Listen to the romance of Mikhail Glinka "I remember a wonderful moment ..." on the verses of Alexander Pushkin. What do these romances have in common and how do they differ?

Portrait in Russian Art.

It is believed that the portrait is the most indisputable achievement of our national school; it was thanks to him that Russian painting reached the European level. XVIII century in Russia it is called the century of the portrait. The best Russian artists painted in the portrait genre: F. Rokotov, D. Levitsky, O. Kiprensky, K. Bryullov, I. Repin, M. Vrubel and others.

In the middle of the eighteenth century. the portrait becomes a part of everyday life associated with architecture, furniture, utensils, the very inhabitants of the dwelling, their costumes and habits.

Thanks to the "portrait harmonies" of the Russian artist Fyodor Stepanovich Rokotov (1735-1808), a special emotional vocabulary was formed for expressing the viewer's impressions: "half-blinking, half-burning of colors", "fragility, airiness", "mysteriousness and mystery", "vibration of light and color", “Poetic fragility of feelings”, “concealment of emotional manifestations”, etc. In addition to technical pictorial innovations, the artist opens up new possibilities for intimate intimate portraiture in expressing the mental world of a person as the main criterion of his dignity. It is often believed that Rokotov endowed the models with his own spirituality.

A special place in the artist's work is occupied by the portrait of A. Struyskaya (1772). He is a vivid example of the poeticization of an image by means of painting. The airy, transparent manner of writing creates a feeling of lightness of fabrics and bottomlessness of the background. With the help of light, Rokotov masterfully highlights the face and at the same time unites the entire composition of the portrait into a single whole. It is no coincidence that this portrait is often called the "Russian Mona Lisa".

Almost a hundred years ago, the poet Yakov Petrovich Polonsky (1819-1898) saw a portrait of Maria Lopukhina by his friends, painted by the Russian artist Vladimir Lukich Borovikovsky (1787-1825). By that time, the portrait was also almost a hundred years old. The poet remained deep in thought for a long time in front of a small canvas. He knew practically nothing about this woman. He only knew that for some reason her life was unhappy and that she died very young. The poet thought: “What a miracle - painting! Everyone would have forgotten this beautiful Lopukhina long ago, if not for the brush of the painter. ... . "

And verses began to form in his head:

It has long passed - and those eyes are gone

And there is no smile that they silently expressed

Suffering is a shadow of love and thought is a shadow of sadness.

But Borovikovsky saved her beauty.

So, part of her soul did not fly away from us.

And there will be this look and this beauty of the body

To attract indifferent offspring to her,

Teaching him to love, suffer, forgive, dream. ... ...

We remember Lopukhina because it was written by Borovikovsky. And if we did not know who is depicted in the portrait, would he like him less or touch less? Of course not! That is why this portrait will forever excite that the artist created a beautiful image of a woman of sad and bright beauty, a pure and gentle soul.

Love painting, poets!
Only she, the only one, is given
Souls of changeable omens
Transfer to canvas.

Do you remember how from the darkness of the past,
Barely wrapped in satin
From the portrait of Rokotov again
Did Struyskaya look at us?

Her eyes are like two mists
Half smile, half cry,
Her eyes are like two deceptions
Shrouded in the mist of failure.

A combination of two riddles,
Half-delight, half-frightened,
A fit of mad tenderness
Anticipation of mortal torment.

When darkness falls
And a thunderstorm is coming
From the bottom of my soul shimmer
Her beautiful eyes.

N. Zabolotsky

Pick up pieces of music by Russian composers (romances, chamber instrumental music) that can be used as a background to promote a deeper perception of portraiture.

Compare the artistic features of the portraits of Rokotov and Borovikovsky with the features of the famous portrait of Leonardo da Vinci "La Gioconda". What brings them together, what distinguishes them?

Find epithets, metaphors, comparisons in the text of the poem. How do they enhance the perception of A. Struyskaya's image?

Culturology and art history

: Portrait in the work of F. New stage in the development of portraiture, which is now not limited to imprinting individual traits man but penetrates into his inner world was marked by the work of F. Rokotov's amazing talent quickly brought him fame and recognition at court, but the best works belong to the Moscow period of his life where the artist's talent in the field of intimate chamber portraits flourished. The type of portrait created by Rokotov, the intimate intimate portrait, constitutes an entire era in Russian portrait ...

Answer to question no. 49 “ Russian art 18th century: Portrait in the work of F.S. Rokotova, D.G. Levitsky, V.L. Borovikovsky ".

A new stage in the development of portraiture, which is now not limited to capturing individual features of a person, but penetrates into his inner world, was marked by the work of F.S. Rokotov. Rokotov's amazing talent quickly brought him fame and recognition at court, but the best works belong to the Moscow period of his life, where the artist's talent blossomed in the field of intimate, chamber portraits.The type of portrait created by Rokotov - intimate intimate portrait - constitutes an entire era in Russian portraiture. He possessed a rare gift that allowed him to masterfully convey the inner world of a person, his trepidation and warmth. His models seem to protrude from the shimmering gloom, facial features are slightly blurred, as if shrouded in haze. The master's canvases are characterized by richness of shades of tone, exquisite color combinations. Soft, muted tones create an atmosphere of intimacy: there is nothing ostentatious or outwardly spectacular in his portraits. The artist is attracted by the inner beauty of a person. Examples of works: "Portrait of Maykov" - the poet's grassy-green caftan with red cuffs and gold embroidery, lace frill are written somewhat carelessly. The artist focused his main attention on the face: it is slightly mocking, a little puffy (puffy), narrowed eyes. All this speaks of a man who loves to live for his own pleasure. Rokotov reaches his true heights of skill in a number of female portraits. "Portrait of A. P. Struyskaya" (1772) - Rokotov showed the sublimity of the image of a young woman. Her figure in the portrait seems unusually light and airy. This work is called "Russian Mona Lisa". "Portrait of Countess Santi" - an amazing work of the 18th century. in the subtlety of rendering the image, in colors, in charming combinations of olive and pink tones. A bouquet of modest wildflowers on the chest of this lady brings a special sophistication. Rokotovskie portraits are a story in faces.

Less subjective portrait of D. G. Levitsky. His painting is more material and solid, the color is more intense, he knows how and loves to extract decorative effects, changing the nature of the arrangement of saturated color spots on the canvas. Therefore, Levitsky willingly painted ceremonial portraits, which were not inferior to the best Western European models in terms of representativity, the ability to use accessories, background, posture, gesture, and pictorial brilliance. In his paintings, one can feel the weight of velvet, the rustling of a mass of silk, the cold shine of metal, the prickly roughness of gold embroidery, transparency and the play of precious stones. However, all this pictorial luxury does not prevent the artist from demonstrating the psychologist's vigilance in the best ceremonial portraits. He actively worked on chamber portraits. Levitsky to create extremely convincing and comprehensive portrait characteristics of people of his time. A classic example of style classicism in the portrait genre is the famous "Portrait of Catherine II - Legislator in the Temple of the Goddess of Justice." In the portrait characterization of Catherine the Great, the classicism universally significant, official and high, overshadowing the personal and emotional side of the soul. Among them best works the portraits of "Smolyanka" women, pupils of the Smolny Institute belong. The series, written by Levitsky, consists of seven large portraits in life size. Schoolgirls are depicted full-length against the background of a conventional decorative landscape or lush curtains falling in heavy wide folds. With this technique, the artist emphasizes that the subject of the image here is not real life, but the theater. In the composition of all the portraits, a slightly lowered horizon is deliberately chosen - the artist shows his heroines from the same point from which the viewer looks at the stage from the stalls. The originality of the concept lies, first of all, in the fact that we are not portraits in the usual sense of the word, but portraits-paintings in which this or that action is revealed. Levitsky's heroines dance, play the harp, perform theatrical roles. All portraits vary, in essence, the same theme of a blossoming, cheerful youth, in all portraits with the same force the bright, optimistic outlook of the artist, marked by genuine humanism, is affirmed. The enormous gift of a painter-decorator, characteristic of Levitsky, manifested itself in that amazing precision, almost material tangibility with which the fabrics of clothes, the transparency of lace, the shine of satin, the shimmer of golden threads woven into matte velvet were conveyed in Smolyanka. Levitsky's drawing is distinguished by impeccable fidelity and sharp expressiveness.

V.L. Borovikovsky - from his teachers he adopted the brilliant technique, ease of writing, compositional skill and the ability to flatter the person being portrayed. By 1790 he became one of the most famous portrait painters.
He was conscientious and hardworking and did everything perfectly: numerous copies, which he was ordered more than once, and even those portraits in which he was required to follow some fashionable model. He excelled in the ceremonial portrait (many of his works in this genre were revered as samples), and in the intimate, and in the miniature. He created a portrait of Paul I, as well as ceremonial portraits - an amazingly beautiful and exotic portrait of Murtaza Kuli-khan, a magnificent portrait of A.B. Kurakin, a portrait of Derzhavin. His talent was most vividly revealed in a series of female portraits performed in the same years. They are not as spectacular as men's, small in size, sometimes similar in compositional solution, but they are distinguished by an exceptional subtlety in conveying characters, elusive movements of mental life and united by a gentle poetic feeling. For beautiful female images, Borovikovsky, in the style of sentimentalism, created a certain style of portrait: a half-length image, a figure immersed in thoughtfulness, resting his hand on some kind of support, and a quiet landscape serves as the background for the languid bending of the body in light, light clothing.Portrait of MI Lopukhina - this portrait is intended to reveal not the social significance and social position of the person being portrayed, but the deeply intimate sides of his character. An example empire portrait can serve as the work "Portrait of M.I. Dolgorukoy ”- this work clearly expresses the ideal of a woman of the era of the Patriotic War of 1812. Inspiration, uplifting of feelings, awakening of national self-awareness were fertile soil, ready to nurture the seeds of lofty heroic ideas. In the image of Dolgoruka, there is no languid bliss, relaxation and thoughtfulness of young ladies of the 1790s. On the contrary, the depth of the depicted feelings is harmoniously combined with external restraint in their manifestation. Feelings of M.I. Dolgorukoy is subordinated to the will, the hidden sadness is hidden by a gentle smile. The strict simplicity that distinguishes the appearance of the princess was expressed in the restrained grace of movements, in the simplicity of the costume, which perfectly reveals the harmony of her figure, in the nature of the jewelry (pearl jewelry on her head and in a long string of pearls around her neck). The rather detailed development of the face is combined here with the generalization of the ideally beautiful forms of her figure, neck and arms.

Bugaevsky-Grateful I. V. Portrait of the artist V.L. Borovikovsky. 1824.

The artist lived and worked at the turn of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. As a master, he was formed during the enlightenment era of the reign of Catherine the Great. The heyday of his work fell on the short and contradictory reign of Paul I, who was called both the "insane despot" and the "Russian Hamlet." Borovikovsky survived the "wonderful beginning of the Alexandrovs' days", as well as the invasion of Napoleon and the Patriotic War of 1812. The artist died in April 1825, several months before the Decembrist uprising.
Borovikovsky's art corresponds to the philosophical, aesthetic and religious ideas of his time. The painter paid tribute to various stylistic trends. Until now, Borovikovsky remains an unsurpassed master of sentimentalism in Russian painting. At the same time, the artist clearly showed himself as a representative of late classicism (Empire style).
Throughout his life, Borovikovsky worked hard and fruitfully. Compared with F. Rokotov and D. Levitsky, he left a huge artistic heritage, numbering over three hundred works. First of all, the painter fully realized himself in the various typological structures of the portrait genre. These are representative canvases of large size, and small-format camera images, miniatures. The artist also paid tribute to allegorical paintings. Borovikovsky is the author of numerous icons for huge cathedrals and small churches, home icon cases. In the old literature, the artist's religious painting was highlighted and highly appreciated. The first biographer of the artist V. Gorlenko wrote about Borovikovsky as an "inspired religious painter", whose works "breathe deep and naive faith, passing by the end of his life into mystical delight."
Vladimir Borovikovsky was born on July 24 (August 4), 1757 in Mirgorod in Little Russia. The artist's childhood and adolescence proceeded in an environment that promoted the development of the abilities of a talented boy. His father Luka Borovik, uncle, cousins ​​and siblings constituted a kindred clan of icon painters. Borovikovsky received his first lessons in this craft from his father. However, according to the custom of his time, he had to serve in the military field. In 1774 Borovikovsky joined the Mirgorod regiment, in which he was listed "in excess of the set." In the first half of the 1780s, the artist retired with the rank of lieutenant, settled in Mirgorod and now completely devoted himself to religious painting. He painted images for local churches (Trinity and Resurrection churches in Mirgorod), most of which have not survived. In rare examples ("The Virgin and Child", 1787, Museum of Ukrainian Art, Kiev; "Tsar David", Museum of V.A.Tropinin and Moscow Artists of His Time, Moscow) of Borovikovsky's icon painting, one can trace the reverent attitude of a deeply religious person to the creation of a religious image.

The virgin and child

At the same time, the ornamental complexity and splendor of Ukrainian art appeared in the icon-painting creations of the master.
The incident helped develop the talent of the painter. In 1787, Catherine the Great decided to make a trip to Taurida. V.V. Kapnist, a famous poet and leader of the Kiev nobility, instructed Borovikovsky to paint the interiors of the house in Kremenchug, intended for the reception of the empress. Apparently, he also composed the intricate plots of two allegorical paintings. One featured seven Greek sages in front of the Book of Instruction. Before them is Catherine in the form of the goddess Minerva, who explained to them the meaning of this code of laws. Another picture depicted Peter the Great - the Farmer, followed by Catherine II sowing seeds, and two young geniuses, the Grand Dukes Alexander and Constantine, who harrowed the plowed and sown land.
According to legend, the empress liked the content of the paintings, and she ordered the talented painter to move to St. Petersburg. In the retinue of subjects who accompanied the empress on her journey to Taurida, there was N.A. Lvov, a famous architect and poet. Nikolai Aleksandrovich was also a close friend of V.V. Kapnist. He immediately invited the talented painter to live in St. Petersburg in his house, "in the Postal Camp" (the current address is Soyuz Svyazi St., 9). Similar hospitality to many talented people was in his custom. “The slightest difference in any ability tied Lvov to a person and made him love him, serve him and give all the ways to improve his art,” wrote F.P. Lvov, “I remember his cares for Borovikovsky, his acquaintance with Egorov, classes with Kapellmeister Fomin and other people who, by their skill, came to the notice and found shelter in his house. "
N.A. Lvov, who traveled to many countries, was well acquainted with various schools and trends in European art. Judging by the travel notes, the Bolognese masters aroused his admiration, he liked "the sugary sentimentality of Carlo Dolci." All these artistic preferences are reflected in his own drawings and prints. Being a good draftsman, Lvov, in turn, influenced the development of Borovikovsky's skill. Nikolai Aleksandrovich introduced Borovikovsky to his fellow countryman Dmitry Levitsky, who by that time had firmly established himself in St. Petersburg. Although Borovikovsky's apprenticeship with Levitsky has not been documented, the proximity of the techniques in the early works of Vladimir Lukich speaks of his acquaintance with the work of the brilliant portrait painter.
At first, upon his arrival in the northern capital, Borovikovsky continued to paint icons. However, the figurative structure and style of these works differ significantly from the works performed in Little Russia. These are rare examples of religious painting. "Joseph with the Christ Child"(on the left on the stone is the year of execution and place of writing - 1791, St. Petersburg.) and "Tobias with an angel"(both in the State Tretyakov Gallery). Probably, these small icons were intended for home icon cases in the house of Lvov and his entourage. They no longer have the traditional features of Ukrainian art. On the contrary, here you can feel Borovikovsky's acquaintance with examples of secular painting. In the choice of subjects and the construction of the composition, the influence of Western European masters is noticeable. So depiction of saint Joseph with a baby is not found in Orthodox iconography, while it is present in Catholic painting.

In 1621, the official celebration of St. Joseph's Day was approved in the Vatican. The popularity of this saint is reflected in his numerous representations by Italian and Spanish Baroque masters. In the Hermitage there is a painting by B.E. Murillo "The Holy Family", in which the pose of Joseph with a baby in his arms is similar to that of Borovikovsky. It looks like writing folds of clothes. It is known that Borovikovsky copied works from the Hermitage collection. The painting "The Virgin with the Christ Child and the Angel" has survived, a copy of which was considered to be the work of A. Correggio in the eighteenth century (Tretyakov Gallery). The medallion "Joseph with the Christ Child" is distinguished by strong feelings, harmony of perception of nature and the finest painting of miniature writing.
Plot "Tobias with an angel"- favorite in the western European painting Renaissance and XVII century.

In Russian art, a painting of the same subject "from the original German" by the young Anton Losenko is known. Borovikovsky, on the other hand, took as a basis compositional solutions in the canvases of Titian (Museum of the Academy, Venice) and B. Murillo (Cathedral in Seville), apparently known to him from engravings. There is nothing mysterious and wonderful in the scene presented to the viewer. The Russian master interprets the plot quite realistically, using genuine everyday details. A little boy, accompanied by an adult mentor, carries a caught fish, the entrails of which are to heal his blind father. The catch hangs on a willow twig (kukan), as was done in native Little Russia. Tobias happily hurries home. Emphasizes the motive of the movement and the dog running next to him. The painter skillfully arranged the group, inscribing it in an oval, and selected harmonious yellowish pistachio and olive-purple shades of color, which correlate with the pink and blue tones given in the landscape.
In the early 1790s, Borovikovsky received an order to create images for the main cathedral of the Borisoglebsky monastery in Torzhok. N.A. Lvov, who was responsible for the interior decoration of the temple, recommended the artist to the archimandrite of the monastery and the city rulers. As can be seen from archival documents, high-profile customers initially intended to choose the traditional icon-painting style, but then agreed with Lvov, who proposed a secular painting manner of performing images. For two years of hard work, Borovikovsky painted thirty-seven icons, the location of which is currently unknown.
Perhaps Borovikovsky would have remained a master of religious painting, but one significant circumstance radically influenced the expansion of the range of the master's creative interests. In 1792, the Viennese portrait painter I.B. Lampi, who had won European fame, arrived in St. Petersburg. Involved in the orbit of admiration of the Petersburg public, Vladimir Lukich began to work under the guidance of the renowned maestro. By copying his works, the Russian artist assimilated the achievements of the advanced techniques of European painting and modern techniques of writing. Since then, his passion for the portrait genre has come to the fore.
A new understanding of portrait tasks, distinguishing Borovikovsky from his predecessors, marks "Portrait of Empress Catherine II on a walk in Tsarskoye Selo Park"(1794, Tretyakov Gallery).

This is the first example of a chamber interpretation of the image of the empress, who appears before the viewer in an unconventional way. In the coronation portrait by F. Rokotov, the great monarch sits on the throne with royal regalia, in the works of S. Torelli she is in the image of the goddess Minerva, the patroness of the muses, on the canvas of D. Levitsky - the priestess of the goddess Themis. V. Borovikovsky showed Catherine II "at home", in a cloak and a cap. In her advanced years, a lady slowly walks along the alleys of an old park, leaning on a staff. Next to her is her beloved dog, an English Italian greyhound. Contemporaries testify to the Empress's extraordinary affection for these creatures.
The idea of ​​such an image probably originated in the literary and artistic circle of N.A. Lvov and is closely connected with a new trend in art, called sentimentalism. It is significant that the portrait of Catherine II was not executed from life. There is evidence that the artist was posed by her beloved chamber-jungfer (room servant) M.S. Perekusikhina, dressed in the dress of the empress.
For this work, V.L. Borovikovsky, about whom I.B. Lampi was busy, was awarded the title of "appointed" to the academician. However, despite the recognition of the Academy of Arts, the portrait apparently did not like the empress and was not acquired by the palace department. Nevertheless, rejected by Catherine II, it is this image that appears in the cultural memory of Russian people thanks to A.S. Pushkin. Growing up in Tsarskoe Selo, where everything was filled with memories of the times of "Mother Catherine", the poet almost "quoted" the portrait in "The Captain's Daughter". The image of the queen, earthly, accessible, capable of sympathy and therefore merciful, impressed the people of Alexander's time more, and this is exactly how Pushkin created him.
In the person of I.B. Lampi, Borovikovsky found not only a wonderful teacher, but also a real friend. The Austrian painter was distinguished by the talent of a Russian student. Being an "honorary free fellow" of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, Lampi helped Borovikovsky receive (September 1795) the title of academician of painting for portrait of Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich.

Lampi's friendship with Borovikovsky is evidenced by the fact that after leaving Russia (in May 1797), he left his studio to a Russian painter. In November 1798 Borovikovskaya wrote to his relatives in Mirgorod that he now lives "on Bolshaya Millionnaya in the house of the court mundkoh mister Vert at No. 36" (now Millionnaya st., 12).
It is known that some works by Lampi were kept in the atelier, which were mistakenly attributed to his heritage after Borovikovsky's death. There are also copies of Borovikovsky's work. To "clear" the list of this corpus of works, to separate the works of Austrian and Russian artists is one of the important tasks of studying Borovikovsky's work at the present stage.
V.L. Borovikovsky painted portraits of all representatives of the circle of poets, close friends of the artist - N.A. Lvov, V.V. Kapnist and G.R.Derzhavin. People are very different characters and temperaments, they were linked by a common artistic taste and aesthetic views. In their midst, they not only held conversations about the lofty ideals of poetry, philosophy, history. Their letters are characterized by a special "affectionate confidentiality" to each other. "Sincere friends" were not alien to all kinds of fun. There is evidence of a comic competition between three poets who glorified the "tyuryu", the winner of which was recognized as G.R.Derzhavin.
In the early 1790s, Borovikovsky painted a miniature representing V.V. Kapnist (RM). Although Vasily Vasilyevich lived in his family estate Obukhovka in Little Russia, he kept constant correspondence with friends, often came to St. Petersburg. Borovikovsky chose the classic tondo shape and perfectly fitted the figure of Kapnist into it. The poet is presented against the backdrop of a landscape, at the marble bust of a young lady. Both the nature of the landscape and the subtle pictorial scale correspond to the dreamy image of the young writer.
In 1795 Borovikovsky G.R. Derzhavin posed.

Unlike his literary friends, the portrait painter presented him in his office, in a senatorial uniform, with orders. From a number of details, one can get an idea of ​​the variety of state duties of Derzhavin, who was the president of the Commerce Collegium, the governor of the Olonets and Tambov provinces, and the prosecutor general. The poet is depicted against the background of bookshelves, at a table heaped with manuscripts. Among them - the ode "God", a work that won the poet fame among his contemporaries and translated into all European languages. It is no coincidence that on the back of the cardboard on which the portrait is written, the old inscription has been preserved:

Here the brush depicts the singer Felitsa,
My zeal adds this verse to him ...
As long as there will be light on Felitsa's affairs,
But in order to know it with a fiery imagination
Ornate, Reason, syllable
And bought with that of the soul, and the heart of enlightenment
Let's finish the ode (God).

The author of the dedication, signed with the initials D.M., most likely, was the first owner of the portrait - Dmitry Vladimirovich Mertvago, a good friend of Derzhavin.
In the mid-1790s, the portrait painter came into vogue, he was literally overwhelmed with work. A painter has to value his time. “It is frustrating for me to lose an hour, a great one in my duties,” Borovikovsky wrote to his brother in Little Russia. The portraits by Vladimir Lukich were liked not only by the ability to convey the resemblance to the model, the subtlety of color, but also by the fact that they reflected new trends in art.
The artist's work was in many ways akin to the works of Nikolai Karamzin and the writers of his circle. The Petersburg public read "Letters of a Russian Traveler", and Karamzin's "Poor Liza" became a kind of bestseller. The sensitive poems of I.I.Dmitriev and lyric poetry of V.V. Kapnist were popular (especially in ladies' society). All these works vividly reflect the features of Russian sentimentalism.
In the early 1790s Borovikovsky painted a number of pastoral portraits-paintings - "Portrait of E.A. Naryshkina" (State Russian Museum), "Portrait of Unknown Girls" (Ryazan Art Museum). As a rule, the artist chose the decorative oval shape, depicted the figures in full-length, the presence of a landscape (rural nature or a park ensemble) was mandatory. Dreamy and crafty young creatures were depicted against the background of blossoming rose bushes, bright flooded meadows. Their constant companions were their favorite dogs, sheep, goats. With this "set" one could easily fall into sweetness, but Borovikovsky did not cross this line. The figurative structure of his works is marked by that "tender sensitivity", which proceeded from the entire emotional mood of Russian society.
Of particular importance in feudal Russia were works that expressed sympathy for common people... The author of "Russian Pamela" (1789) P.Yu. Lvov wrote that "we also have such tender hearts in a low state." N. Karamzin was the author of the words: "And peasant women know how to love." The fate of a man of the people aroused special sympathy in the circle of G. Derzhavin and N. Lvov, in their estates sometimes idyllic relations between landlord writers and serfs developed. These relations are reflected in such works by V. Borovikovsky as Lizynka and Dashinka (1794, Tretyakov Gallery) and Portrait of a Torzhok Peasant Woman Khristinya (1795, Tretyakov Gallery).
The portrait painter captured the young maids of the Lvov family: "Lizynka at the 17th year, Dashinka at the 16th"- so says the inscription engraved on the back of the zinc plate (this material was often used as a basis by the artist).

Both girls were distinguished by their special ability to dance. Derzhavin glorified their abilities in the poem "Friend". Lizynka and Dasha embody the type of sensitive girls of that era. Their gentle faces are pressed cheek to cheek, their movements are full of youthful grace. The brunette is serious and dreamy, the blonde is lively and funny. Complementing each other, they merge in harmonious unity. The delicate tones of cold bluish-lilac and warm golden-pink colors correspond to the character of the images.
In the image Khristinyi, the wet-nurse of the Lvov daughter Borovikovsky conveyed the modesty, shyness of a peasant woman, quiet, friendly and affectionate.

The painter admires her attire: a white shirt through which a pink body shines through, a green sundress trimmed with gold braid, a crimson kokoshnik. This portrait is the prototype of the peasant genre images of Borovikovsky's student A.G. Venetsianov.
Borovikovsky especially succeeded in depicting "young maidens" from noble families. With an abundance of orders, the painter was limited to the number of sessions from nature. He completed the main part of the work in the workshop. Therefore, the artist has developed a certain canon: portraits are almost the same size, have a waist cut of figures, a smooth bend of the body is similar, the presence of landscape backgrounds is mandatory. Depicting M.A. Orlova-Davydova, V.A. Shidlovskaya, E.G. Gagarin, the portraitist varies such details as a slightly noticeable tilt of the head, a different position of the hand, the direction of the gaze, and changes the color tone. However, in the best creations Borovikovsky achieves a high degree of expressiveness. Such is "Portrait of Ekaterina Nikolaevna Arsenyeva"(mid-1790s, State Russian Museum), who was a pupil of the Smolny Institute for Noble Maidens, maid of honor of Empress Maria Feodorovna.

The young Smolyanka is portrayed in a peyzanki costume: she is wearing a spacious dress, a straw hat with ears of corn, and a liquid apple in her hands. Chubby Katya does not differ in the classical correctness of features. However, an upturned nose, sparkling sly eyes and a slight smile of thin lips give the image perkiness and coquetry. Borovikovsky perfectly captured the spontaneity of the model, her lively charm and cheerfulness.
A completely different character is conveyed in "Portrait of Elena Alexandrovna Naryshkina"(1799, Tretyakov Gallery).

On the maternal side, she was the granddaughter of the famous Russian admiral Senyavin. Her parents were close to the royal court and enjoyed the same disposition of the emperors Paul I and Alexander I. The thin, educated girl was distinguished by her special beauty. She is only fourteen years old in the portrait. Borovikovsky lovingly and reverently conveys the noble whiteness of Naryshkina's face, her thin profile, lush curls of hair. The painting surface is less transparent, the fused brush strokes create an enamel surface. The sad expression on the gentle face is emphasized by the portraitist. As if Naryshkina foresees the hardships prepared for her by fate.
As a maid of honor, at the age of fifteen, Elena Naryshkina was married to Prince Arkady Alexandrovich Suvorov, adjutant general, son of Generalissimo A.V. Suvorov-Rymniksky. This marriage was not very happy and was short-lived. Naturally gifted with great abilities and distinguished by personal courage in battles, the son of the great Suvorov, like his father, had many oddities and was not created for family and home life. A.A. Suvorov drowned in 1811 while crossing the Rymnik River, which gave the second surname to his father. Princess Suvorova became a widow at the age of twenty-six with four young children. After the death of her husband, she went abroad, where she spent a long time. In 1814, Elena Alekseevna was in Vienna, where her father was in the retinue of Empress Elizabeth Alekseevna. At the brilliant balls and festivities that accompanied the Vienna Congress, Princess Suvorova, thanks to her beauty, attracted everyone's attention and occupied a prominent place between the beauties of the Viennese court and the highest European aristocracy. Both in European capitals and on the waters in Germany, where she spent the summer months, Princess Suvorova led a social life and had many friends and admirers. She had good musical ability and a pleasant voice. Poets VA Zhukovsky and II Kozlov were in friendly correspondence with her. G. Rossini wrote a cantata in her honor in the opera The Barber of Seville. Princess Suvorova spent the summer of 1823 in Baden-Baden, soon after that she remarried Prince V.S. Golitsyn. The rest of her life was spent in the south of Russia, in Odessa and Simferopol, in the Crimean estate of her husband Vasil-Saray. Elena Alexandrovna died and was buried in Odessa.
The ideal of the painter, his idea of ​​the beauty of a Russian noble lady is embodied in the famous "Portrait of M. I. Lopukhina"(1797, Tretyakov Gallery).

This painting has become a kind of visiting card of the painter. Maria Ivanovna Lopukhina came from the ancient count family of Tolstoy: her brother was the famous Fyodor Tolstoy American. At the age of 22, Maria Tolstaya married an elderly warden of the court S.A. Lopukhin. According to legend, in marriage with him, Maria Ivanovna "was very unhappy" and two years later she died of consumption.
In the portrait, eighteen-year-old Maria is represented even before her marriage. She is dressed in the fashion of those years: she is wearing a spacious White dress with straight folds, reminiscent of an antique chiton. An expensive cashmere shawl is thrown over the shoulders. The main theme of the portrait is the harmonious fusion of man with nature. Compositional-rhythmic and coloristic relationships are given by the artist in the depiction of the model and the landscape. Lopukhina is depicted against the background of an old park; she rests on a marble parapet. The gentle curve of her figure echoes the curve of the tree in the background, the bent ears of rye and the drooping rosebud on the right. The white trunks of the birch trees echo the color of the chiton, the blue cornflowers with the silk belt, the pale lilac shawl with the rose flowers.
The image of M.I. Lopukhina is not only fanned with amazing poetry, but also marked by life authenticity, such a depth of feelings that her predecessors did not know in Russian portraiture. It is no coincidence that this portrait was admired by the artist's contemporaries. Over the years, the attractiveness of the image did not fade, on the contrary, Lopukhina continued to captivate the hearts of the audience of subsequent generations.
Among the poetic images of young ladies of the era of sentimentalism, a special place occupies "Portrait of E.G. Temkina"(1798, Tretyakov Gallery), which amazes with its sculptural plasticity of forms and elegant colors.

The very fact of birth and the names of the parents of the depicted are shrouded in mystery. However, contemporaries (F.A. Buhler) testified that Elizaveta Grigorievna Temkina “was the true daughter of Prince Potemkin<…>looked like portraits of a prince. " She was born in Moscow, in the Prechistensky Palace, on July 12 or 13, 1775. The Empress, who visited the "capital" on the occasion of the celebration of the Kuchuk-Kaynardzhi peace, did not appear for a whole week due to her illness. Liza Temkina (according to some Temlitsyn's documents) was brought up in the house of Grigory Alexandrovich's nephew, A.N. Samoilov. In 1794, she was married to the wealthy Greek Ivan Khristoforovich Kalageorgi (Karageorgi), who was invited to the retinue of Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich to teach him the Greek language. The village of Balatskoye in the Kherson province was allocated as a dowry to Temkina. Subsequently, her husband I.Kh. Kalageorgi became the governor of Kherson and Yekaterinoslav. Judging by the letters of Elizaveta Grigorievna, she was a modest woman and a caring mother (had four sons and five daughters).
Soon after her wedding, Alexander Nikolaevich Samoilov expressed a desire "to have a portrait of Elizaveta Grigorievna Kalageorgieva." “I want, - he wrote in a letter to one of the confidants, - that the painter Borovikovsky wrote it off. It is desirable for me that she<была>written off the way Countess Skavronskaya was painted by Lampius ... so that the neck was open and the hair was disheveled with curls, lay on it without order. " This is important evidence that contemporaries saw in Borovikovsky the only follower of Lampi.
An interesting history of the receipt of the picture in Tretyakov gallery... The Department of Manuscripts has preserved letters from the son and grandson of E.G. Temkina to P.M. Tretyakov. This correspondence clearly demonstrates the attitude of the people of the second half of the nineteenth century to the artist's heritage. At the end of December 1883, Lieutenant-General Konstantin Kalageorgi sent a letter from Kherson to Moscow with a proposal: a family monument and make it accessible, both for the public in general, and especially for young artists and art lovers. Your gallery of paintings is known to everyone, and therefore I am addressing you with a proposal whether you would like to purchase this precious thing. "
In the spring of 1884, the work, valued at six thousand rubles, was sent to Moscow. In the accompanying letter K. Kalageorgi said: “The portrait has a historical value, since my mother is the own daughter of the Most Serene Prince Potemkin-Tavrichesky, and from my mother's side, she is also of highly significant origin. She was brought up in St. Petersburg, in the then best boarding school Becker and straight from the boarding school was married to my father, who was then a childhood friend of the Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich, and received from Potemkin vast estates in the Novorossiysk Territory. "
The painting arrived safely at the "capital" and was put on the exhibition of the Society of Art Lovers. P.M. Tretyakov sent a letter to the owners and informed them that the price "assigned by them is too high." In response, Temkina's grandson, Justice of the Peace Nikolai Konstantinovich Kalageorgi, to whom the rights to the portrait were transferred, wrote: “The portrait of my grandmother has three times historical meaning- according to the personality of the artist, according to the personality of my grandmother and as a type of beauty of the eighteenth century, which is its value completely regardless of the fashion trends of contemporary art ”. Unfortunately, the art of V.L. Borovikovsky at that time was not appreciated at its true worth. As P.M. Tretyakov wrote, the portrait "did not arouse any particular attention and even, in speed, was ostracized, that is, it had to give way to the works of modern luminaries of art and leave the exhibition." Not agreeing with the great collector in price, in 1885 the owner demanded that the painting be returned to the city of Nikolaev. She soon found herself in the wrong hands. Two years later, a certain N.M. Rodionov from Kherson again turned to Pavel Mikhailovich with a proposal to buy this portrait, but at a price of 2,000 rubles. And again, for some reason, Tretyakov did not buy the portrait. But nevertheless, fate decreed that the painting entered the gallery. In 1907, the Moscow collector I.E. Tsvetkov bought the work from the widow of N.K. Kalageorga. In 1925, his collection was added to the collection of the Tretyakov Gallery. Since then, the "Portrait of Temkina", not appreciated at its true worth in its time, has been in permanent exhibition and is rightfully the pearl of the museum.
One of the most expressive portraits by V.L. Borovikovsky, decorating the exposition of the Tretyakov Gallery, should rightfully be called "Portrait of Prince A.B. Kurakin" (1801-1802).

Alexander Borisovich Kurakin was the son of a famous nobleman of the time of Catherine the Great. On the side of his grandmother, his relative was a brilliant diplomat and statesman N.I. Panin. Young Alexander was brought up in childhood together with the Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich and retained a friendly affection for him for the rest of his life. Alexander Borisovich received excellent education at home, continued his education abroad, studied at Leiden University. Returning to St. Petersburg, Kurakin received the title of Chief Prosecutor of the Senate. The empress did not like the friendly relations between the new government official and the heir to the throne. Taking advantage of Kurakin's negligence in his correspondence, he was removed from the courtyard. The disgraced nobleman was supposed to live on his estate, Nadezhdina, Saratov province. There he started a farm, small local nobles entered the service of Alexander Borisovich as simple servants, which flattered his exorbitant ambitions. Kurakin loved truly royal splendor in local life. His vanity was reflected in the numerous images that he ordered from foreign and Russian masters.
As soon as Emperor Paul I ascended the throne, he summoned a childhood friend to St. Petersburg. A.B. Kurakin was showered with all kinds of favors, awards (orders of St. Vladimir and St. Andrew the First-Called), received a high appointment, became vice-chancellor. The unbalanced emperor dismissed the prince in 1798, and Kurakin settled in Moscow, a shelter for disgraced leaders. Shortly before his death, Paul I returned his favor and the post of vice-chancellor. It was at this time that V.L. Borovikovsky began to work on the portrait of A. B. Kurakin. However, its execution was completed after two years. After the palace coup in 1801, Alexander Borisovich did not lose his importance at the court. Under the new emperor Alexander I, he carried out certain diplomatic assignments. The Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna forever retained her affection for her husband's friend. After the death of Kurakin, a monument was erected at his grave in Pavlovsk with the inscription: "To a friend of my spouse."
In "Portrait of A.B. Kurakin" Borovikovsky's creative potential reached full bloom. With amazing skill, the artist conveys the majestic appearance of a noble nobleman, his pampered, lordly face, condescending, mocking look. Alexander Borisovich is depicted among the palace setting: on the right - a marble bust of the emperor, on the left, in the background, his residence Mikhailovsky Castle. Kurakin appears before the viewer in the dazzling splendor of ceremonial vestments, his entire chest is covered with order ribbons and stars. It is no coincidence that Kurakin was nicknamed "the diamond prince" for his special love for decoration. Borovikovsky perfectly conveys the texture of the material: the velvet of the purple tablecloth, the green cloth of the drapery, the iridescent sheen of the camisole. The splendor of the setting, the sonority of huge color spots perfectly complement the characterization of the image.
This image, solemnly laudatory in design, bears the traits of objectivity, forcing one to recall Derzhavin's poems that denounced the nobles for their sybarism and arrogance. The portrait of Kurakin is the highest achievement in the field of Russian ceremonial portrait, here Borovikovsky remained an unsurpassed master.
In an effort to convey the inner world of a person, Borovikovsky turned to that area of ​​feelings that was associated with a family idyll. In the work of the painter, who remained lonely until the end of his days, works in which family joys were glorified acquired great importance. Among the earliest images should be mentioned the sketch "Family portrait" (Tretyakov gallery), "Family portrait of V.A. and A.S. Nebolsinykh "(State Russian Museum), representing spouses with young children. Borovikovsky creates a special type of small-format portrait, close to miniature, but having its own differences, both in technique and in figurative sound. As a rule, these are images - a quarter of nature or somewhat larger, they are executed oil paints on cardboard, galvanized plates, less often on wood. Such works are not applied, but easel character and testify to the growing interest in the genre of intimate portraiture. In a sense, Borovikovsky stood at the origins of the chamber form of a portrait, which was developed in the drawings and watercolors of O.A. Kiprensky, in the watercolors of the young K.P. Bryullov and P.F. Sokolov.
Borovikovsky introduces a new element in the figurative content of a family portrait in "Portrait of the Gagarin sisters"(1802, Tretyakov Gallery).

Anna and Varvara were the daughters of the actual privy councilor Gabriel Gagarin. The idea of ​​the picture - to show the idyll of home life and the tender feelings generated by music - is quite consistent with the spirit of sentimentalism, but the genre motive of the action is introduced into the composition. The portrait is perceived as a scene that characterizes one of the sides of the landlord's life. The world of manor entertainment is revealed to the viewer, which included playing the harpsichord or guitar, singing sensitive romances. There is more specificity in the characteristics of the characters than in the canvases of the 1790s. Elder Anna, holding notes in her hand, is serious and full of inner dignity. She is in the forefront here. The younger eighteen-year-old Varvara, more timid and smiling, is used to being in the background. The beauty and sonority of the color is achieved by comparing the neighboring local colors: the singer's gray dress and her pink scarf, the pearl-white dress of the guitarist and the red-brown guitar.
At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the preaching of a high self-consciousness of man, his civic duty and social virtues regains the right to exist and supplants the vague dreams of sentimentalism. It is significant that the ideologist of this trend Nikolai Karamzin wrote in 1802: “Courage is a great property of the soul; people who are excellent for them should be proud of themselves. " Under these conditions, Borovikovsky could not help but turn to the search for new images and forms. So on "Portrait of A.E. Labzina with her pupil"(1803, Tretyakov Gallery) the heroine is presented as a mentor who sacredly fulfills her duty.

Anna Evdokimovna Labzina was a woman with principles and a faithful friend to her husband A.F. Labzin, vice-president of the Academy of Arts. Although women were not allowed into Masonic lodges, an exception was made for her, Labzina attended the meetings of the lodge. In 1822, she courageously shared her husband's fate and followed him into exile. Derzhavin's lines can serve as a poetic illustration of this work by Borovikovsky:

Showing noble feelings,
You do not judge human passions:
Announcement of science and art,
You bring up your children.

Triple portrait of A. I. Bezborodko with his daughters(1803, RM) refers to the highest achievements in the creation of family portraits.

Anna Ivanovna Bezborodko was the wife of Ilya Andreevich, the brother of Chancellor A.A. Bezborodko, a prominent statesman and diplomat of the Catherine era. Anna Ivanovna was a knightly lady of the Order of St. Catherine, but in the portrait she appears as a virtuous matron. Borovikovsky depicted her at home, in the interior of the palace, against the background of a landscape in a heavy carved frame. The mother hugged her daughters, who inherited the eastern beauty of her Armenian ancestors. The image of a son who died early is present in the form of a miniature portrait held in the hands of Cleopatra, the youngest of the sisters. Borovikovsky skillfully connects three figures into an integral group, closes them with a single silhouette line.
The painting stands apart in the work of the master. "Allegory of winter in the form of an old man warming his hands by the fire"(Tretyakov Gallery).

Borovikovsky follows the image widespread in iconology. At the same time, the artist takes as a basis not an abstract image close to the ancient ideal, but refers to a specific, folk type of the Russian peasant. Borovikovsky does not paint a mythological picture, but chooses a favorite form of a portrait. A shaggy, half-blind old man in a sheepskin coat stretches out his rough knotted hands over the fire. The artist deliberately enlarges the figure of the old man, brings his wrinkled face closer to the viewer. The stingy landscape (ice grotto and snow-covered valley) and brownish-gray scale correspond to the image of a commoner.
Literary and artistic sources could have a known influence on the development of this plot by Borovikovsky. In 1805, there was a cycle of poems by G.R.Derzhavin, dedicated to the seasons (among which there is "Winter"). The image of winter associated with old age was also embodied by A.Kh. Vostokov in one of his poems. In the visual arts, this theme was widespread in sculpture (works by Girardon, Prokofiev, Bouchardon). As a special exhibition in Braunschweig (Germany) clearly showed, Borovikovsky knew Dutch and German paintings on the same subject14. He saw and, possibly, copied paintings that were kept in the Hermitage and in private collections in St. Petersburg (Stroganov gallery, Razumovsky collection). Borovikovsky also used engravings from the originals of Western European masters. Despite the direct analogy of the composition with the work of Joachim Sandrart "January" (Bavarian State Assemblies, Schleissheim Castle), Borovikovsky created an original image marked by real and national features. The painting, representing a peasant warming his hands, undoubtedly reflected the master's life observations. Apparently, the personal experiences of the creator, his thoughts about the impending old age, also affected. It is not for nothing that in Borovikovsky's correspondence with his family there are notes of fatigue during this period (“my strength is beginning to change,” he complains). In 1808, the fifty-year-old painter wrote with bitterness: "I am already, although, however, young, but an old man."
In the 1810s, Borovikovsky's fame as the greatest portrait painter of the era gradually began to fade. A new generation of young romantic artists began to actively declare themselves. In 1812, the works of Orest Kiprensky were demonstrated at the Academy of Arts, which immediately won a huge success with the public. The star of the fashionable portraitist shone brightly in the sky of art. The masters of the eighteenth century, among whom was Borovikovsky, gradually receded into the shadows.
Significant place in artistic heritage Borovikovsky is occupied with portraits of the leaders of the Russian Church. The tradition of portraying the ministers of the Orthodox cult was laid down in the "parsuns" by unknown masters of the time of Peter the Great. This type of portrait was especially developed in the work of A.P. Antropov, who directed the icon painters of the Synod. Following him, Borovikovsky continued this line of portraiture in secular painting. Among the best and most expressive are "Portrait of Mikhail Desnitsky"(about 1803, Tretyakov Gallery).

Mikhail Desnitsky (1761-1821) bore the name of Matvey Mikhailovich in the world. He came from a family of a priest, was born in the village of Toporkovo in the Moscow diocese. In 1773, the young seminarian of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra was noted by the Metropolitan of Moscow Platon Levshin himself. In 1782, Mikhail Desnitsky studied at the Philological Seminary under the "Friendly Scientific Society", closely associated with NI Novikov. During this time he became close to the Freemasons. An inquisitive young man attended lectures at Moscow University, took a course at the Moscow Theological Academy. A well-educated priest in 1785 was appointed to serve in the Church of St. John the Warrior, "that on Yakimanka". According to the recollections of contemporaries, all of Moscow gathered for the sermons of M. Desnitsky, which were distinguished by a clear, light syllable, simplicity of presentation of moral and philosophical maxims. M. Desnitsky was an active member of the Moscow Society of Literature Lovers.
In 1790, Desnitsky spoke at the Moscow Dormition Cathedral "A word on the occasion of the conclusion of peace between Russia and Sweden." This sermon was highly praised by Catherine the Great. In 1796 the priest was transferred from Moscow to the northern capital. At first he served as a presbyter in the court church in Gatchina. In 1799, an important event took place in the life of Desnitsky. He took monastic vows and was ordained archimandrite of the St. George Monastery in Novgorod. Father Michael (that is the name of Desnitsky in monasticism) became a member of the Synod, since 1800 - Bishop of Old Russian and Vicar of Novgorod.
At the beginning of the nineteenth century, Desnitsky received a new assignment to Little Russia. In 1803, he was supposed to move to the Chernigov diocese. Apparently, shortly before leaving, Desnitsky posed for Borovikovsky. Perhaps this portrait was commissioned by the bishop's friends. The painter creates a very unusual image of a clergyman. He is depicted in the interior, against the background of draperies. On the left in the background is the image of the crucified Christ. The artist presented M. Desnitsky in episcopal vestments. Combinations of red, gold and silver colors give the piece a certain decorative effect. Bust portrait, all attention is focused on the face. He captured the priest during prayer, his right hand resting on his chest. The enlightened gaze is directed upward. Desnitsky is completely immersed in an intimate conversation with the Almighty. Borovikovsky wrote to Desnitsky twice more: in 1816, already in the rank of archbishop (in a black hood), and shortly before his death - in a white hood of a metropolitan.
Representative and well-dressed is the Portrait of the Catholicos of Georgia Anthony (1811, Tretyakov Gallery).
Anthony (1760-1827) came from a royal Georgian family. He was the fourth son of Tsar Heraclius II from his marriage to Princess Daria Dadian-Mengrelskaya. In 1783, when his father recognized the Russian protectorate, Anthony left for Russia. In 1788 he returned to Georgia and the next year was elevated to the dignity of Catholicos. From 1811 he lived in Russia, was awarded the highest awards - the Orders of St. Andrew the First-Called and Alexander Nevsky.
Borovikovsky introduced the bishop in ceremonial vestments with orders, in one hand - a staff, with the other he blesses the viewer. The artist subscribes Beautiful face with delicate white skin, soft, bushy beard, brown eyes. If we compare the Georgian Catholicos with Mikhail Desnitsky, then we can talk about different approaches to the model. There is a portrait of a friend, a highly spiritual person. Here is a ceremonial and more traditional image that follows certain established canons.
Another portrait of the outstanding figure of the Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Ambrose (in the world Andrei Podobedov) is associated with the name of Borovikovsky. He was born into the family of a priest of the Vladimir diocese, the early period of his life was closely associated with Moscow. A. Podobedov graduated from the course at the Theological Seminary of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. In 1768 he was ordained a monk and was appointed preacher of the Moscow Theological Academy. In 1771, during the funeral service for Archbishop Ambrose Zevtis-Kamensky, who was killed during a plague riot in Moscow, Podobedov uttered a funeral oration that made his contemporaries talk about him. In 1774 he became rector of the Moscow Theological Academy and was introduced to Empress Catherine II. Since then, Ambrose constantly addressed in his sermons with gratitude and parting words to the great empress. In turn, the flattering priest received special royal attention, was showered with gifts and favors. So, in July 1778, during the celebration of the Kuchuk-Kainardzhiyskiy Peace in Moscow, in the presence of Catherine, Ambrose was ordained bishop of Sheba, vicar of Moscow. In 1785 he was awarded the rank of archbishop. After the death of Catherine the Great, Ambrose was among the few who managed to remain in favor under the new ruler. Paul brought Ambrose closer and kindly. In 1799 he was awarded the Orders of St. Andrew the First-Called, St. John of Jerusalem, Alexander Nevsky. Ambrose was appointed Archbishop of St. Petersburg and Novgorod. In 1801, shortly before the coup, he was elevated to the rank of Metropolitan. However, the end of his career was very disastrous. Under Alexander in 1818, Ambrose was deprived of the St. Petersburg diocese and exiled to Novgorod, where he died.
The portrait of Metropolitan Ambrose was created, in our opinion, during the reign of Paul. This is evidenced by the awards, in particular the Maltese cross. The work has a pronounced representative character. The artist chose a large canvas, presented the figure almost in height. In the background, details of a secular ceremonial image are introduced - marble columns, heavy velvet draperies.
In terms of the depth of spiritual penetration and decorative richness of color, the images of Orthodox priests are closely related to the religious painting of Borovikovsky of the late period of creativity.
In the fall of 1808, V.L. Borovikovsky wrote to his nephew Anton Gorkovsky: “I am busy with my work continuously. Now my main duty is for the Kazan cathedral, which is magnificently under construction. " The Kazan Cathedral, designed by the architect A.N. Voronikhin, attracted the best artistic forces of St. Petersburg. Together with Borovikovsky, professors of the Academy of Arts worked on the interior decoration of this grandiose architectural ensemble: Grigory Ugryumov, Alexey Egorov, Vasily Shebuev, Andrei Ivanov. By that time, Vladimir Lukich, on the recommendation of Count A.S. Stroganov, had received the title of adviser (the award took place in December 1802). Responsible work stretched over several years (from 1808 to 1811).
Borovikovsky performed six images for the Royal Doors of the main iconostasis, as well as four local images (for the second and third iconostases). The works of his brush were most consistent with the concept of the building. Religious pretentiousness, solemnity of compositions with saturation of color were distinctive features paintings of the artist. Borovikovsky's painting brought brightness and special expressiveness to the ensemble; in terms of plastic expressiveness, the faces of the evangelists were close to the sculpture of Martos, which also adorned the interior.
Borovikovsky also painted four icons for the local rite. Of these works, the best is great martyr Catherine, striking with majesty and monumentality, purity and nobility of the image.

A reduced version, a repetition of this image, was donated by P.M. Nortsov in 1996 to the Tretyakov Gallery. According to legend, Saint Catherine lived in Alexandria in the 4th century. She came from a royal family, was distinguished by intelligence and beauty, was well versed in the sciences. As a Christian, she was severely tortured and beheaded. Borovikovsky follows the established iconography of the great martyr. He depicts Catherine wearing a crown and ermine mantle, which indicates her royal origin, with a palm branch of a martyr in her hands. At the feet of Catherine is the sword with which she was executed. However, the painter brings in the peculiarities of the Baroque style: over the head of the saint, amurs are hovering like a halo, in the background there is an image of a stormy sky with lightning, lush folds of clothes, rich color.
In 1819 Borovikovsky became a member of the "Union of Brotherhood" - this is how its founder, EF Tatarinova, née Buxgewden, called her circle. The artist was introduced to the "Union ..." by his fellow countryman M.S. Urbanovich-Piletsky, who headed the Institute for the Deaf and Dumb18. We learn the details from the artist's “Notebook”: “On the 26th (May. - L.M.). Monday. Yesterday they put in to commune ... At 6 o'clock in the morning, ordinary prayers, hours and to St. communion of prayer. He came to the orphanage church, confessed to Father Alexei. Martyn Stepanovich gave 25 rubles to commemorate the fact that today I have joined the fraternity. " In the first years of the existence of the Tatarinova circle, the government treated him with great tolerance. Perhaps this was due to the fact that the mother of Tatarinova, Baroness Maltits, was the educator of the Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna, the daughter of the emperor. The "Brotherhood Union" was attended by the Minister of Public Education and Confessions A. N. Golitsyn, and Alexander I knew about the existence of the circle. There was a legend that the emperor invited E. Tatarinova to the palace for an audience. His letter to Miloradovich dated August 20, 1818, which refers to Tatarinova's "Union", has survived. "I tried to penetrate ... and according to reliable information I found that there is nothing here that would take away from religion."
From "VL Borovikovsky's Notebook" for 1819, we learn about the meetings that took place at Ekaterina Filippovna's apartment in the Mikhailovsky Castle. The main role belonged to the founder: it was believed that it was she who was endowed with the gift of "divination". The members of the circle spent time in instructive conversations, sang cants of spiritual content, set to music by Nikita Ivanovich Fedorov, read sacred books ("The Sacrament of the Cross", the work of Mrs. Gion, "Appeal to Men", "Guide to the True World"). Then began "zeal" (movement in a circle), at first slow, gradually increasing. It sometimes lasted for an hour - until one of those circling, feeling the suggestion of the "spirit", began to "prophesy." At first Borovikovsky was happy that he "joined the brotherhood." He, who had searched all his life for reconciliation with a reality in which injustice flourished, "persecution and adversity," seemed to have found peace. In his "Notebooks" of that time there are records: "I felt the world", "I felt the warmth of my heart, I lovingly said goodbye to everyone." The artist naively believed that in Tatarinova's circle he would find an atmosphere, albeit somewhat exalted, but in tune with his spiritual world.
However, already a month after the "introduction" he began to experience "chagrin", which he "poured" tea with rum and vodka at home. “August 9th. Saturday. In the evening I got drunk, to relieve my conscience that tomorrow I ought to be in Mikhailovskoye. " In fact, the "Union of Brotherhood" was not fraternal. Borovikovsky soon felt disdain for himself, they made him understand where his place was. “Kozma reprimanded me not to come to that place. Shem greatly disturbed the spirit, and I came to the utmost despondency, even though I could go out. " “September 14th. Sunday. All seem alien to me, and especially Martyn Stepanovich: one arrogance, pride and contempt. Not a single one is sincere towards me, and I do not see one that I would like to imitate. So, with extreme chagrin, despondency and hopelessness, I went home to await my rejection, and how will it end? "
Borovikovsky repeatedly and gratuitously wrote religious paintings for E.F. Tatarinova. Just like the Freemasons, the Brotherhood Union had a tradition of painting images of its members. In the large icon "Cathedral" the artist was supposed to capture the members of the sect. When Borovikovsky also portrayed himself among the participants in the action, he was sharply offered to remove the image, while assuring that there were more worthy faces. Despite the fact that "all this" was not to the artist's heart and not to the head, Borovikovsky was firmly enslaved.
Religious compositions belong to this period of Borovikovsky's life: "The Appearance of Jesus Christ with the Cross of Calvary Praying to EF Tatarinova" (1821, State Russian Museum, sketch - in the State Tretyakov Gallery) and "Christ Blessing a Kneeling Man" (1822, Museum of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra) ... They still showed the talent of a great master, as evidenced by the iconostasis for the church of the Smolensk cemetery in St. Petersburg (RM). The death of the master in April 1825 interrupted the work in its midst. Following the last will of V.L. Borovikovsky, he was buried “without undue ceremony” at the same Smolensk cemetery.
The master who did not have a family bequeathed all his movable property, "consisting of several paintings, a small number of books, money, how much will remain after death (only four thousand rubles), and other household items" to distribute to help the poor.

STYLE

Signs of the baroque attitude
On the question of the stylistic affiliation of Rokotov's work, one should not follow a very vicious practice (common in popular art literature) to believe that "the usual style categories are not very applicable to the best Russian portraits of the 18th century." The definition of stylistic affiliation does not diminish the importance of the individuality of the creative handwriting or the artist's vision, but only sets the correct guidelines and places the necessary accents. Stylistic syncretism, which is very characteristic of Russian art in general, should not be embarrassed either. Pure stylistic samples are a rare phenomenon for art as for any living phenomenon and process. In addition, national specificity always lies in the nuances and deviations from the standards. Our task with you is precisely to teach children to feel the specificity of the phenomena of art against the background of stylistic commonality.
Returning to F.S. Rokotov, one should compare the main components of his portraits with the three main styles of the eighteenth century: with the late baroque, rococo and classicism. What catches the eye in the first place in Rokotov's portraits is the contrast of the dark background with the model's light face, either a shining inner light, or a lightened directed beam. As we know, a dark background is a sign of the dramatic outlook of the Baroque, the mysteries of the endless spatial perspectives of the Baroque model, parallel worlds and shadow duality.
The darkness of the external environment, sliding or deep shadows, penetrates the light of the face and makes it a part of the secrets of the universe. Shaded eyes, shadows at the corners of the lips, asymmetry of the shaded and lighted parts give a mysterious ambiguity to the facial expression ("Portrait of an Unknown Woman in Pink"). This is precisely part of the attractive power that Rokotov's portraits possess. At the same time, Rokotov compared to A. Antropov (1) and I. Argunov (2) made significant progress in the painterly skill of depicting the background as a moving airspace. The shadow in his painting becomes active, and this is another artistic method of expanding and deepening the content of images.

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An equally effective baroque technique for complicating the content of a pictorial image is the activation of the independent life of the pictorial element of the picture. Rokotov is one of the rare Russian artists in whose work artistry and the richness of a purely pictorial component are of such great importance. The richness of textured methods of applying paint on canvas, which Rokotov owns, is surprising. In accordance with the task, he puts strokes in shape, rubs them into the base of the canvas, with a zigzag movement violates the shape, the boundaries of light and shadow.
At the time of the heyday of his creativity, he “builds color in the appropriate tonal key for each case: portraits in smoky, brown-black, ash-pink, silver-blue tones, sometimes cold, sometimes warm in their colorful range, which in itself introduces the viewer into the emotional atmosphere of the work ”. As a result of this, a living and animated environment arises in which its own secret life proceeds, independent of the characters and even of the will of the artist himself. The viewer is drawn into “the experience of the miraculousness and magic of this environment”, which has arisen due to the work with a brush and the independent life of colorful primordial matter.
Of course, Rokotov does not reach the maximum that is possible in baroque painting and is described by A.K. Yakimovich in terms of "titanic, volcanic work." His style is much more restrained, and perhaps this is the manifestation of the artist's national originality (compare with the textured and coloristic techniques of P. Rubens and D. Velazquez (3) ), but the fact that the magic of his picturesqueness comes from the Baroque is beyond doubt. Rokotov's adherence to the free spatial arrangement of the model in a three-quarter turn, as well as to the multidirectional orientation of the body, face and eyes (portraits of N.E.Struisky or A.P. Sumarokov) is also a sign of a baroque worldview, which fundamentally cultivates a model of personality overwhelmed by conflicting passions ...

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At this point, it is worth asking the question: how strong are these passions in the people portrayed by Rokotov and where is the source of the origin of feelings - outside of a person or inside him? Baroque, as a rule, includes a person in the general rhythms of the universe, which automatically brings the source of emotions outside of a person, raises the degree of his feelings, the degree of their generalization.

Rococo: getting closer to the viewer
The style that follows the Baroque - Rococo - significantly narrows the scope and focuses on the person and his circle intimate life... This brings the model closer to the viewer, focusing on private, more personal and hence more varied in the range of conflicting feelings. Passions are replaced by feelings, the source of these feelings becomes the person himself.
If we compare the portrait concept of Rokotov with the baroque and rocaille portraits, then we can come to the conclusion that Rokotov is moving towards the latter. This is evidenced by the choice of a bust image, the approximation of the model to the viewer, the predominance of images of a private person rather than a status person (additional evidence is the very fact of the artist's move to less official Moscow), the accentuation of the processes of searching for the gaze of the person being portrayed, a low amplitude of conflicting impulses in the characteristics of the model.
Rococo features are reflected in the delicate color harmonies of Rokotov portraits and the absence of strong color accents. The fragility of colorful splashes, melting in the darkness, emphasizes the fragility and fleetingness of the being of the beautiful worlds of the portrayed, which is consistent with the general feeling of rococo - the fragility and insecurity of being: last time the crowns of trees, the silks and velvets of dresses will sparkle once again, the last chords of the musicians will sound, and a wonderful life full of joy and festive rapture will disappear and turn into nothing ”(AK Yakimovich).
Hence Rokotov's "half-smile-half-cry", which is endowed with almost all of his characters. At the same time, in a number of cases, when the baroque shadow around Rokotov's characters thickens, the balance of "joy on the verge of grief, laughter on the verge of tears" shifts towards a more melancholic perception of life than on the rocaille portraits of European masters, in which, though fleeting, but all the same joy of celebration of life (cf. "Portrait of the Duchess de Beaufort" by T. Gainsborough (4) , "Portrait of Barbarina Campanini" by R. Career, with works by A. Watteau (5) ).

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Under the influence of the Rococo worldview, the temporary concept of Rokotov's work is also - that largely melancholic acuteness of experiencing the moment of the blossoming beauty of life on the brink ... I would like to say fading, but Rokotov never crossed the border and delicately stopped, not approaching the cliff.
In the works of the 1770s. the flutter of a fragile candle of life is inspired by coloristic effects ("Portrait of A. P. Struyskaya", "Portrait of an Unknown Woman in Pink"). In the 1780s. it materialized in a visible metaphor of a flower bending under its own weight ("Portrait of E. V. Santi" (6) , “Portrait of V.N. Surovtseva "). A withering heavy rose on V.N. Surovtseva is a predicted sign of a new trend of the times - sentimentalism (cf. "Portrait of MI Lopukhina" by V. Borovikovsky), as well as a harbinger of the allegorism of classicism.

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The voice of classicism
In the 1780s – 1790s. Rokotov responds to the voice of classicism. The model in his portraits moves slightly away from the viewer, light and color are concentrated within the form, which is filled with material heaviness before our eyes. This also entails the concentration of spiritual impulses previously dispersed in colorful matter. Baroque-rocaille emotional currents begin to transform into the integrity of the classicist category of will. Various sketches of mirages of individuals reveal the desire to merge into perfect image due.
A "rokotov type" is emerging, to which we owe our persistent idea of ​​the special spirituality and mystery of the soul of a Russian woman. Border in this respect is “Portrait of V.E. Novosiltseva ". However, Rokotov did not go beyond the edge of his fragile world. His heroes remained in the nets of quivering shadows, at the crossroads of incomplete manifestation of spiritual impulses, under the shadow of the mystery of being.

PERSONALITY PROCESS

In part, we answered the question about the place of Rokotov's portraits in the process of personality formation in Russian art in the course of stylistic analysis. The main thesis here is that Rokotov breathed soul into the portrait, gave the face an extraordinary spirituality. The half-smile of his models became the same for Russian art as the smile of "La Gioconda" by Leonardo da Vinci for European art generally. She, like Leonardo's, has an extremely vague character and therefore seems mysterious to us. By the way, the archaic smile on the lips of young ancient Greek kor and kuros is also mysterious.
The spirituality of the artist's models is also generalized. Rokotov never set himself the goal of giving an exhaustive description of the people he portrayed. He simply became one of the first Russian artists who recognized a person's right to a spiritual inner life, and this was a huge step in the process of becoming a personality in Russian portrait art. But not only that, Rokotov dared to take the second step, for the first time depicting the inconsistency of human nature and thereby recognizing her right to deep-seated complexity. Here, too, there is a certain generalized scheme for all portraits, which boils down to playing on the discrepancy between sad eyes and smiling lips.
We need to think out and complete a lot with the help of historical evidence and biographical data, if we want to get full description depicted characters, as happens, for example, in the case of N.E. Struisky (see more details in the description of the portrait). But not so much the details are important as the very fact of latent anxiety and excitement of "a fiery soul with all its tenderness of heart."
Rokotov singled out the primary opposition of soul and heart and gave many options for its implementation in his portraits. He caught the tenderness of a romantic soul and the fury of a despotic heart in the portrait of the seven-year-old Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich, the future Emperor Paul I, who raved about chivalrous ideals and tyrannized the country - a sharp turn of his face at the viewer with a three-quarter turn, a victorious grin and the incredible weight of the eyelids over sad eyes ... Rokotov speaks of the inconsistency of human nature exclusively by artistic means.
Particularly indicative in this respect is the twin portrait of the Struyskys. Even if we did not know anything about the strangeness of the spouse's behavior, then only on the basis of a formal analysis of the composition could we come to the conclusion about tensions within a young family. In an ensemble of portraits, everything is based on dissonances. As a rule, the spouses in paired portraits are turned to each other, while in Rokotov they fundamentally do not meet with their eyes.
According to European tradition, portrait of a man takes a position to the right (the strong half) of the imaginary center between the portraits, and the female to the left (weak half). With Rokotov, the opposite is true: Struisky is on the female side, which enhances the fragility of his behavior. The more materially voluminous portrait of the wife is contrasted with the more flat and ephemeral depiction of the husband. It is the female image that actively appears due to the better illumination, while the figure of the man seems to recede inward and merge with the background. Each of the spouses has his own plastic theme. In a paired combination, the multidirectional turns of the body, face and gaze is even more noticeable, since the figures unfold in antiphase.
However, the unity of the spouses still exists, and this is carried out at the level of community of illumination and quivering atmosphere, as if permeated with the nerve impulses of the "fiery soul" of both. A single whole, a family, turns out to be composed not according to the principle of similarity, but according to a more complex principle of attraction of opposites. The tension arising in the gap of the opposition discovered by Rokotov made it possible to start the mechanisms of counting internal time, psychological time. The inner dialogue of eyes and lips cannot be translated to a verbal level, but it is intuitively caught and lasts a time of empathy. The ephemerality of this dialogue is consistent with the general rocaille concept of a passing and elusive time.

IN DIALOGUE MODE

From all of the above, we can conclude that a lesson on Rokotov's work must be built in an active dialogue mode, involving a large number of comparative material.
At the beginning of the lesson, you can clarify the level achieved by Russian portrait art at the time of Rokotov's entry into the active phase of creativity. Comparison of his works with portraits of A. Antropov and I. Argunov will help to reveal the moment and conditions for the appearance of signs of the inner life of the depicted models. It is better to focus on the most noticeable detail of the animation - the appearance of a light smile. An excursion into the history of the smile in the visual arts - from "La Gioconda" by Leonardo (7) to "Marilyn Monroe" by E. Warhol (8) and photographs of modern movie stars - will give the problem a more urgent character and at the same time help to find more precise characterization the smile of the Rokotov characters (the more contrasting the examples, the easier it is to notice the characteristic).

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A more difficult level involves the analysis of the dialogue between eyes and lips. Rokotovsky's spiritual dissonance of sad eyes and smiling lips looks more impressive against the background of the integrity of the image of "La Gioconda" and the obvious prevalence of the sexuality of the lips over the spiritual principle of the eyes in the portrait of Marilyn Monroe.
Discussion of the opposition of "fiery soul" and "tender heart" can lead to more personal interests of adolescents, since they are very sensitive to such problems at this age. Questions about how they understand this division, whether there is such a division in their life and practice, how this division works in the system of different portraits of Rokotov, can be very productive and lead students to think about the inconsistency of the human personality. Each of the teenagers felt the inner contradictions of mind and heart in themselves.
Questions about the individual's right to inconsistency, about the nature of mental contradictions, about situations in which they arise, about possible ways of resolving internal conflicts can contribute to a more interested peering at portraits three hundred years ago. In comparison with the more contrasting emotions of adolescents, very unexpected judgments about the spiritual problems of Rokotov's models are possible. It is in this place that the most timely involvement of biographical data about the characters depicted.
In the light of the increased interest in the subject of discussion, it is more productive to talk about artistic techniques that make it possible to convey to the viewer the spiritual life of people of an ancient era. Here we should dwell on three points: a complex compositional spread, an individual coloristic characteristic of the portraits of the 1770s. and an independent deep life of chiaroscuro, textured and pictorial masses.
A discussion of artistic features naturally brings the conversation to the theme of the stylistic affiliation of Rokotov's work. Here you can remember about stylistic features baroque, rococo and classicism. Last but not least, one can compare the works of Rokotov with similar rocaille works by masters of other national schools - Italian (A. Rotary), French (A. Watteau) and English (T. Gainsborough), which will help to reveal the national specifics of the refraction of Rococo in Russian art.